Breaking Point
by CommanderWaffles
Summary: Kaidan's first assignment as a spectre goes to hell, and who turns up to save him but the person he so hates to love. Post ME3. Kaiden/Femshep  sort of.  Slight AU. Bit of OCs.
1. Prologue

**Breaking Point **

**AN: **_**The AU in this fic is as follows: Commander Shepard (paragon) triumphantly beats the reapers, by destroying the citadel, everyone lives happily ever after yadda, yadda, yadda. No complicated stuff, plain and simple. If there are any questions about the plot just ask, I'll try to explain most of what happened early on, but if anything confuses you just bring it to my attention. Enjoy! :)  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own "Mass Effect" or any of it's characters… **_**however I wish I did because I hated those endings.**_

**Prologue**

The large screens surrounding the interior glimmered with that same image looping over again. Commander Shepard looking towards the sky the profound ending to the reaper war, everyone rejoiced and said their lines, but in the end war inevitable, peace could never last.

"Minister Donelly?"

Rebecca snapped back to reality, and she was now looking an ugly grey salarian right in the face, with a light floating beside him, blinding her mildly. "_How agitating" _She thought. Here she was, on some icy shithole of a planet while the entire galaxy celebrated.

"Sorry, could you repeat the question?"

"Now that the Geth have made certain implications suggesting they want to make peaceful relations with the citadel races, do you think they will soon be considered an allied race?" The salarian rushed through.

Rebecca couldn't tell if he was rushing through the question because he was _repeating it_ or if it was just because he was a salarian, regardless it was lengthy and as usual Rebecca had to come up with some bullshit reply based on bullshit probabilities. "The Geth helped defeat the reapers, in fact they brought substantial forces to the table. It's likely that humans and the other council races will want to get on a friendlier basis with them."

Behind the salarian that stupid clip of Shepard continued to replay. Personally Rebecca didn't see what the big deal was, the citadel was destroyed and casualties were in the 9 digit mark and counting, and that was just for Earth. The worst conflict in Galactic history, and she still wished it had gone on just a bit longer. Sure war meant Turmoil and Panic, but peace-time meant mundane bullshit and distorted politics, and Rebecca wasn't sure which one was better.

"On behalf of council news I'd like to thank you for your time Minister Donelly." The salarian then shuffled to obstruct somebody else's view.

Rebecca scowled as she now had a clear view of Shepard, wishing the salarian had stayed. _"Minister Rebecca Donelly, in charge of interplanetary relations."_ The title didn't nearly make up for the amount of work that had been thrown at her since she accepted the job, the day the previous minister was declared missing. That being said, Noveria was one of the more pleasant areas they had shipped her off to. It was a nightmare. The end of the war had left a complete mess for her department to fix. Councillor Udina killed by Shepard herself after it was revealed he helped plan the attack on the citadel. The Volus pushing for a seat on the council, now more than usual. On top of all that, she had a meeting with the asari, turian, salarian and krogan ambassadors to discuss the krogan's "situation" now that they had been cured of the genophage, the council found it appropriate to deal with them. Yet even though the council saw this as an _important_ matter they decided not to attend the meeting _person_a_lly_, instead they sent their official _ambassadors_ to deal with the 's department was directly below council status, but unfortunately she had to deal with the same amount of bullshit.

As she climbed a flight of stairs leading up to the meeting room Rebecca couldn't stop thinking about how much this job _didn't _suit her. _The official unofficial __human ambassador_.

The room was cramped, mostly because there was an eight foot beast standing at the head of a rectangular table, had he been any taller the krogan would not have fit through the door. The turian, asari and salarian ambassadors had already set up on the left side of the table, naturally, Rebecca took a spot on the right next to an unexpected guest, a geth. However it seemed not quite dead, it twitched slightly sometimes and the lights around its flashlight-eye would occasionally twinkle. The closest thing Rebecca could compare it to was a laptop in "sleep mode".

"Why is a geth here?" A raspy voice asked, rather randomly.

"Since this meeting is regarding the stance the krogan will take in citadel space, we agreed that the geth are in the same dilemma and we could _also _address it during this meeting." The asari answered.

"Its currently interfacing with the rooms computers, it should be rejoining us shortly." The turian added.

"The krogan want—

/ ERROR. CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE HAS OCCURRED. /

**6 days, 21 hours ago, unspecified location, council space...  
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"Breaking news, nearly 150,000 people on Noveria are dead, including the council races official ambassadors, who were holding a meeting initially suppose to be addressed by the remaining members of the former "citadel council". After a 100 megaton explosion erupted inside the colony's capital of Port Hanshan, citadel officials are currently investigating the incident, however information released by an officer aiding in the investigation links Alliance Minister of Interplanetary Relations Rebacca Donelly to Cerberus. The same terrorist group former human councillor Udina was conspiring with at the time of the attack on the citadel. This tragedy leads many to question, was Cerberus involved? And is there a bout of corruption stirring within the human ambassador department? This is Jen Dollas Milky Way News."

"The reports couldn't be clearer major, this looks really bad. The war just ended and there are already signs of Cerberus resurfacing, big signs." Admiral Hackett explained, through vid-com, that hint of blue colouring his features. "I hate to throw this at you Alenko I really do, God knows you deserve to be celebrating, but your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to go to Noveria and investigate the incident."

"Well admiral, I wouldn't be much of a spectre if I refused my first lone assignment would I?"

**Present, 60,000 feet above 2175 Aeia, Rosetta Nebula... **

His surroundings were draped in shadows. Out a narrow yellow tinted observatory window e could only make out one thing, a line of blue sky fading into black as it continued upwards into the cosmos. Kaidan's stomach was practically used to the sensation now, as he plummeted downwards at who knew how fast. Confined inside the cramped interior of an Atlas Mech.

Two things crossed his mind, the nauseating sensation he occasionally felt as the falling mech's speed fluctuated. And the second, the words he would've said to his commanding officer had he known he would end up in this position "fuck you."

"Major, something just crossed my mind, actually, its been on my mind for a _while_. We're on trajectory course with a dreadnaught right?" A light brown coloured turian head looked back to him the white face paint on it's mandibles was pronounced in the darkness and that glimmer in his emerald eyes that turian's seemed to have. "Even if we _hit _the dreadnaught we're pretty much dead."

"We'll make it, we have to." Kaidan reassured.

"You know, I don't think physics is gonna take pity on us because its _important-_

"Zekt… we'll make it." Kaidan knew their odds were bad, terrible, but in a time like this, that's what Shepard would've said. Wasn't it? He shuddered, he longed for her to be here with him. Kaidan knew he wasn't ready for this he couldn't do something this alone. He had faced Saren, with Shepard, had faced the reapers with Shepard, and despite his efforts to make his own path-

"Shit! Major, there's another ship, we're headed straight for it!" Zekt looked back again.

"Can't we move?"

"5,000 feet, 2,000-

There was a deafening _bang _and an immediate sense of grogginess and confusion afterwards. Kaidan was lying horizontal on a hard surface, glass and shrapnel surrounding him. He could barely breath, like something was pinning him down. He heard something beyond the ringing in his ears and the throbbing pain in his head, voices, panicking among his slowly diminishing senses he could feel the ground beneath him gyrating, quickly, the shrapnel and glass were being thrown back and forth.

"Kaidan!" A woman's voice, someone so familiar. The last thing he heard before he blacked out.


	2. Voice of a Thousand Silences

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Mass Effect" or any of it's characters…**

**A/N: Sorry I was kinda slow on that update, I know shame on me ;(, sorry to keep you guys waiting. Thanks to everyone who alerted, reviewed and all that great stuff… I should be quicker for next update now that I'm back in my cozy room. :D**

**Chapter 1: Voice of a thousand Silences**

**5 days, 21 hours ago…**

As the shuttle hovered over the blast site, Kaidan nearly gasped, the destruction was immense. A giant smoldering crater and pile of wreckage was all that the explosion had left behind. Port Hanshan had been completely obliterated, even behind the dense snowfall it was plain to see.

The shuttle lowered, swaying as it was tackled by the curtains of snow and hale that were so common on Noveria's surface. The door slid open and Kaidan was met by the heavy winds himself. Even with a full helmet on, the cold was radiating off of the edges of the interior and a shiver ran down his spine.

A turian in black armour trudged through the snow over to him a pistol fastened to his side, he too wore a full helmet and it was (obviously) impossible to tell what he actually looked like. As he continued closer he threw Kaidan a salute. Kaidan didn't respond, to be brutally honest he didn't expect anyone from council forces to be here, and he wouldn't have been at all offended if the turian had held his salute until they reached shelter.

"First Lieutenant Nollithus sir," he yelled. His voice was already barely audible due to the wind, but behind the muffling of his helmet it was even worse, on the brink of mumbling.

"Let's get to the blast site," the two marched through the snow side-by-side until they reached the largest building left in salvageable condition. Nollithus led the way. As they stepped through one of the gaping holes in the structure's foundation, the cracked and battered exterior clearly showed inside as well. Electrical wires strung down from the ceiling, and parts of walls had crumbled.

"Sorry about this Major, resources are scarce, the war really hit us hard," the lieutenant said as he removed his helmet, revealing a green skinned turian with black face paint covering most of his odd looking mug.

"Sorry to sound a bit clueless lieutenant, but what are we doing here? We're operating under council law, but Noveria technically isn't in council space," Kaidan said as he removed his helmet as well. The temperature inside the structure was chilling, but incomparable to the outside.

"Each councillor's official ambassador was assassinated, that makes this a council issue," Nollinthus replied.

Kaidan sighed, some 50% of the population of Noveria had been wiped out and the only reason the council had even taken a second look at the situation was because 4 particular people had been caught in the blast.

"So the councillors have their very own ambassadors now?" Kaidan raised an eyebrow.

Nollithus observed the other officers as they scrambled around carrying datapads and fiddling with omni-tools. He glanced at Kaidan, "It's a system they decided to implement right after the war ended. A lot of crucial decisions need to be made on the council's part. Especially with the citadel destroyed, the council wants to remain influential, and the councillors themselves are particularly comfortable on their high-horses. The ambassadors make decisions on behalf of the person they are representing."

Kaidan nodded pondering on the situation.

Noveria may have seemed like a strange location for such a meeting to take place, however it was a logical and strategic move. Noveria hadn't even been touched by the Reapers, it had government stability and it was one of the only places where the money was still flowing. No doubt the council was worried about losing power, as Nollithus addressed, integrating Noveria into council space would've been a calculated move.

Looking at the massive crater where the planet's capital once was though clearly implied that it wasn't calculated enough.

"Sir, the research mech is acting up again," a soldier called from the other side of the building.

"Excuse me major, unfortunately I'm stuck with some of the most incompetent lot of the military. Master Sergeant Zekt Rikale should be here in a few minutes, he'll answer any questions you have and aid you with your investigation." Nollithus stomped off as he mumbled something angrily about the mech.

It felt like barely a minute that Kaidan had waited before Zekt showed up. A light brown turian, just his mandibles had white paint on them. His green eyes flickered as he observed Kaidan.

"Major Alenko," he greeted, almost warily. His armour was a shiny metallic; it had been through a lot from the looks of it.

"Sergeant," Zekt just stood there, staring. His eyes boring into Kaidan as the major shifted his eyes away to avoid the awkward stare.

"You served with Shepard right?" Kaidan almost winced when he heard that name. There was no one person he respected more, but honestly he'd been trying to avoid the thought of her. In fact the only name that made him feel worse was of the certain pale-green turian she had left him for.

"Vakarian too?" Zekt added.

Kaidan sighed, "Yeah… lets get to the blast site if you really want to know about it I'll tell you then."

Zekt made somewhat of a sneer then turned and started walking, leading Kaidan into a giant area littered with debris, it had been covered by plastic barriers to keep the conditions from damaging or scattering the remaining evidence, this however, didn't keep the temperature from rising at all. The ground was covered with a layer of charcoal colored ash and there was barely anything that remained identifiable.

"This was the initial…kaboom spot, anyone remotely close disintegrated," Zekt explained as the major searched for something he could meaningfully observe that wasn't a piece of rubble.

"What kind of bomb was it?" Kaidan noticed something, the charred remains of something that resembled a sentient being.

"Tactical fission, there were harmless traces of radiation recovered," Zekt watched as Kaidan kneeled down. "That's a geth by the way, the meeting being held was considering the geth and krogan, apparently the quarians couldn't make it." He hissed, and there was no better way to describe Zekt's voice, cold almost hollow. He clearly wasn't very excited about being around here, whatever the case, his body language was stiff, and his eyes were carved into his face with an un-amused look almost like horizontal half-moons.

Kaidan paused and looked back at Zekt, "Pardon me for asking, but you aren't very eager to be here, are you?" Judging by the lack of significant evidence Alenko would be here for a while, might as well get friendly.

"Freezing my ass off investigating some crater wasn't exactly how I planned to spend my week, major," he replied casually.

"Don't forget your commanding officer's making you babysit a spectre."

"Don't remind me," he snickered, "So you're the second human spectre? No offense major but doesn't that kinda you know… blow?"

"What makes you say that?" Kaidan continued to search the room.

"Well, just look who came before you, the woman who almost single handed ended the worst conflict in history. Even before that Shepard was famous for that Skyllian Blitz thing. And I gotta say, for a human, she's a looker," Kaidan's mood diminished with every achievement Zekt mentioned.

"I try not to look at things like that. I'm not competing with anyone; in the end we both earned the title one way or another," he responded, trying to brush Shepard off his mind.

"Yeah I guess; but if I were you I'd be more than overwhelmed. Living in somebody else's shadow… isn't for me."

Kaidan took the opportunity to switch topics, "So what landed you this babysitting job anyway, you lose a bet or something?"

"Second highest rank on this investigation, third if you're counted, I usually get landed with the crap chores, again, no offense; let's just say just say I'm not too popular around here. Well I am, but not in a good way," Zekt shrugged, he didn't seem very bothered by it. Zekt looked pretty young, (as far as Kaidan could judge turian age) he must've been doing something right if he had advanced to his relatively high rank that quickly.

Kaidan continued sifting through the ashes of what was left of what used to be Port Hanshan. Suddenly his ears pricked, a sound, like static, flared through the room.

"… K-Kaidan Alenko-o," The voice was not from something organic, and the static made the sound piercing.

"What? I assumed there weren't any systems operational after the explosion?" the major looked over to Zekt.

"There aren't, I don't know-"

He was interrupted as the voice began to speak again.

"I am… n-not a system native to this facility… I was integrating into this facility's-s programs at the time of the e-xplosi-o-on…"

"You're the geth," Kaidan stated as he glanced over to the scorched body of the synthetic.

"That is c-c-correct."

"Did you see what happened here then?" Kaidan brought up.

"N-no… The security cameras in this room were destroyed immediately after the explosion."

"Hold on… why are you revealing yourself now, the lieutenant never brought this up and he searched through this room before?" Zekt scanned the room, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

"I revealed my-s-self to lieutenant Nollinthus, but he… attempted to destroy the c-onsole that I was operat-ing from, how-owever, I had already… integrated with th-e facility's main pr-programs. Func-tionality is ex-xtremely limited…"

"Nollinthus is dirty," Kaidan stated, tilting his head towards the ceiling not sure where to speak.

"C-orrect, there is corruption within your ranks. You are a s-pectre, you do not op-p-erate under the lieutenant. I b-believed you could b-b-e trust-ed."

"Figures, I'm freezing my ass off babysitting a spectre and my commanding officer is working for terrorists," the turian joked as he chuckled grimly.

Kaidan spun around drawing his pistol, Zekt stood there a clueless expression over his face.

"How do I know you're not working with Nollinthus?" Kaidan demanded with a determined look in his eyes.

Zekt looked at him barely fazed as he stared down the barrel of Kaidan's gun. "I had plenty of chances to kill you," he shrugged, "Beyond that I guess you're going to have to take my word for it."

"Sorry, but that's not good enough-"

He paused as footsteps crossed the corridor they entered from.

"Look, we have to find a way to, uh… move this geth. If we keep waiting around Nollinthus is gonna get suspicious. I can help you, but you're going to have to trust me, at least to the extent of not blowing my head off." Zekt looked him, a certain sincerity in his eyes.

"_Trust your gut_," those words that Shepard had said to him before she shot Udina they echoed in his head, something he wasn't so sure he could always abide by. His gut was telling him that Zekt was telling the truth, but he could easily shoot him in the back if he let him go.

"Fine… just stay ahead of me."

"I canno-t be moved with-out having acc-ess to a m-obile platform… there is a hea-vy assault me-ch towards th-e north side of this fac-i-lity that I may be- able to integ-rate my system-s into. How-e-v-er, I can-not do this with-out you-r aid, you mu-st recalibr-ate its systems and hook it u-p to a wor-king console in ord-er for me to gai-n full acces-s," the computer explained.

The two picked up the pace, heading north for a door on the far end of the makeshift structure.

"Well, recalibrating the systems'll be the easy part, finding a working console in the aftermath of a 100 megaton explosion, not so much," Zekt remarked as the two jogged for the door.

Kaidan sighed, the display light on the door flickered yellow, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there." He pried it open, and the door's manual release kicked in.

This corridor was dimly lit, several of the lights brought in by the investigation team had, for some reason died out. Somebody sat in the corner watching; only the silhouette of them could be seen, and as Kaidan and Zekt approached it ceased to move. Kaidan drew closer and a horrid image came into view. It was a turian, Nollinthis by the looks of it, his mandibles had been brutally ripped off his face and blood (dark blue as turian blood was) drenched his armour and the floor beneath him, it had been smeared across the hallway, he had been dragged there.

Zekt immediately armed himself, pulling the phaeston assault rifle from his back and clutching it, as he continued to stare watchfully at the mutilated corpse of Nollinthus.

"I assume whoever did this isn't going to be any friendlier to us," The major muttered as he glanced back at the corpse. He knew very well what it was, a warning, whoever killed Nollinthus was threatening them.

"You think they got the others too?" Zekt asked thoughtfully turning to Kaidan.

"I don't know, but we have to focus on getting to that mech, whoever did this probably doesn't want us make it there that means it's a step in the right direction."

The two pressed forward, but the geth didn't speak again to guide them, all they had was a general direction. As they treaded through the shadows of the scarcely lit corridor something changed, it became silent and the wind, something Kaidan had gotten so used to, had just made its absence known. The blizzard must have concluded, now there was silence and Kaidan wasn't so sure he preferred this. It was like something out of a nightmare, creaks and footstep-like sounds echoed across the hall.

At the end of the hallway was a hazy white light beyond a jammed open door, the heavy mech stood in that room, an eerie beacon in the darkness, showing them their objective, mocking them.

"_How typical_," Kaidan stated inwardly, a dark unwelcoming tunnel at the end of which they would reach "safety". This scenario never ended well, and he wasn't sure it'd be any different this time around.

Suddenly the dimly lit corridor was shot into darkness the only thing left as any source of light was that damn heavy mech.

"Major Alenko," this was not Zekt. The voice sounded like it was carried along to him, as if picked up by a gust of wind and swept away. "What do you hope to find? There is nothing, but death," Kaidan knew instantly that whoever, whatever was speaking was the same thing that killed Nollinthus, the same thing that warned them.

"The fuck?" Zekt cursed as the voice drew closer, repeating that same sentence.

"There is nothing, but death. There is nothing, but death. Nothing…but…death."

Zekt dashed for the mech at the end of the corridor and Kaidan followed close behind, the creature's word's speeding up as they rushed for the door, sounding as if it was gaining on them.

"Nothing, but death. Nothing, but death. Nothing, but death."

The soldiers sprinted, with all their might they willed their legs to carry on, just beyond the reach of their stalker a few metres felt like miles, the doorway was drawing closer at a remarkably slow pace.

Kaidan wanted to stretch out and reach for the doorway, more than anything he wanted to get to that doorway, more than he had wanted to catch Saren, more than he had wanted to stop the Reapers. However, even in this darkest moment, of utter desperation he was thinking of her, Shep-

Gunshots broke the air, rattling the cold walls of the facility, Zekt had turned around and fired off a few rounds at their pursuer, at that second, it became silent again. And again the silence was deadly as both awaited for the voice to sound again, the two stood still, Zekt's gun still pointed into the shadows.

"Shit," the turian sighed holding back a bit of relief, half still expecting the creature to return, "This goddamn mech better be worth it."

"What… was that?" Kaidan panted, still not being able to fully process what just occurred.

"I don't know… but it sure as hell wasn't Cerberus." Zekt replied.

Kaidan scurried over to the mech, accessing it's systems with his omni-tool and hitting "recalibrate" luckily the working console that was required was to the left of it.

Zekt continued to stare into the corridor now an abyss gradually fading into deeper darkness, the voice continued to play over and over in his head. He aimed his gun through the doorway and flicked on the flashlight, it was a hesitant action, as he was not quite sure he wanted to know what the creature was. As the light draped over the shadows of the corridor beyond he could see the faint outline of Nollinthus' corpse propped up against the wall, but... nothing else, whatever had been chasing them was silenced by a shot, but had not been killed as far as Zekt could tell. "It's gone, I didn't kill it... I don't think i did."

Kaidan looked at Zekt and glanced into the hallway no body, no blood (apart from the smear of Nollinthus'), nothing. There was a sinking feeling inside his breast, but before he could say something their attention was snapped to the sound of the mech powering on. "Systems online, I have transferred all my core data into this machine. Its functionality speed is quite low, systems such as auto repairing shields and armour will not be possible." A blue light on the "face" of the heavy mech flickered when it spoke.

"We should go back and warn the team," Kaidan suggested, Zekt shrugged mildly approving by the looks of it, but the geth interrupted.

"Negative major, I no longer detect any organic heat signatures in this general area."

Kaidan paused, "Then we focus on getting out of here."

"Getting out of here isn't exactly a good idea, unless you want to be frozen for a couple thousand years," Zekt grinned and shook his head. "What am I saying? You're a spectre the council must've provided you with a ship to get over here."

Kaidan hesitated, "The alliance actually offered to give me all the transportation I needed through shuttles and nearby vessels. I don't actually have a ship; the mission was only expected to be a drop off-pick up."

"I stand corrected."

"There are several cargo-ships seemingly in working condition just outside of this room," The heavy mech lifted one gigantic arm and pointed the gun protruding out the end towards a hazardous looking elevator.

"We go to alliance space, present the geth to the council," Kaidan ordered.

"Pardon me Major Alenko, but as I said, at the time of detonation systems were severely damaged, I'm afraid it is unlikely any evidence I have retrieved will be significantly useful.

The three stepped out of the elevator shaft, the heavy mech crunching the snow beneath its feet as it continued slowly towards a badly battered cargo-ship.

Kaidan looked back to the crater, whatever the geth had to offer it would've had to suffice, he had something bigger on his hands, Zekt was right. Whatever the hell was inside that facility it wasn't Cerberus.


	3. The Treasures of Dry Bones

**Breaking Point**

**A/N: I've been trying to be quick for updates for the most part, sorry for the relatively long wait, the proofreading process usually takes longer than the actual writing (X_X), special thanks to the reviews alerts and favourites, and anyone who reads, be sure to critique as you wish, any criticism is appreciated. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Mass Effect" or any of it's characters…**

**Chapter 2: The Treasures of Dry Bones**

**5 days 18 hours ago…**

The engines of the cargo ship gave a wrenching screech as it shot across the sky of Noveria. Kaidan wasn't a very experienced pilot to add to the fact that the cargo ship handled like a block of metal with engines attached to it, which is essentially what it was. The ship was also obviously in poor condition probably due to the explosion.

Since their rocky takeoff the weather had also changed for the worst with conditions identical to when Kaidan first arrived on the barely habitable ice planet. Ice and snow hammered down in mass amounts, and as the cargo ship raced against the wind it shook moderately. The gentle pinging of the ice flakes on the hull made the trip a little more unnerving as well. Kaidan increased the speed and the engines instantaneously let out a horrible squeal.

"Well, FTL is out of the question," Kaidan concluded slowing the ship to an even slower pace than before, it was better the engine didn't spontaneously decide to shut out on them because they stressed it too far.

"The fact that you were even considering bringing this piece of junk into space frightens me," Zekt replied, glancing over to the YMIR mech that stood silently at back of long narrow interior. The ship seemed to droop wherever the mech decided to be, you'd think for a cargo ship it'd be able to handle more weight. Well at least it didn't try to take a stroll around the ship.

"Well, it's not like we have another option," Kaidan retorted, guiding the ship through the storm.

The YMIR mech lifted an arm, as if trying to get their attention. "On the contrary Major Alenko, I recovered information regarding an abandoned shipyard once used by Cerberus. There is a chance that there are still ships on the premises with faster-than-light speed capabilities." It paused, "I am sorry I did not relay this information to you earlier. This machine does not possess the necessary proficiencies to run a sophisticated analysis, I was able to tell that this vehicle was in working condition, but I was not provided with specifics."

"No problem, just plug in the coordinates." Kaidan wasn't keen on the idea of getting back to the surface after what he had just witnessed, but it was his only choice, that or he could try initiating FTL again and being cooked alive didn't sit too well in his mind. So the first option was the only viable one.

The mech interfaced with a small wall panel to its right, thankfully without needing to move to it. Within a few seconds the coordinates appeared on Kaidan's display, luckily they were already facing the general direction of the shipyard.

A few minutes and there it was, a humble-sized compound amidst an ocean of white, no electrical signals emanated from it, no heat signatures, the structure was now abandon. Either that or the ship's systems had been fried; Kaidan wouldn't have been surprised if it turned out to be the latter.

Kaidan eased the ship down onto one of the landing pads. Kaidan stepped out of the vehicle, followed by Zekt, the two halted however when they heard the heavy step of their geth passenger.

"You should stay back, watch the ship, Zekt and I will search the base," the spectre ordered as he gestured for the turian to lead the way.

The base consisted of a series of landing platforms on the exterior and a small indoor facility.

The two strolled along, "Sorry to be pessimistic major, but I've seen frigates bigger than this entire base, we'd be lucky to find a shuttle with a suitable size," Zekt stated as he looked around with an un-amused expression.

"Any shuttle can't be any worse than what we have now," Kaidan replied as they made their way into the main structure. A series of hallways branched out from the entrance; a large strip of counter lined the centre of the room. Behind the counter was a console, the holographic screen read "play log 56", Kaidan looked around sheepishly before pressing play.

"The project is barely complete, just a few more troubleshooting scenarios to fix a few kinks and she'll be ready," A woman's voice reported, though slightly muffled through the console.

Something loud erupted from the speakers, like a gunshot but there were no images to confirm. For a few seconds there was nothing, but loud noises resembling static as the speakers could not handle the blaring audio, then in the background someone shouted a command, just before the audio link severed.

"This log must be from when the alliance raided the shipyard," The major concluded as he scanned the room, "They must have been working on something before they were shut down, but what?"

"And did the alliance ever find it?" Zekt added as he examined a console with a couple bullet holes in it, running his fingers over the holes themselves.

Kaidan frowned as he saw a long dried bloodstain around the corner of the console, "I wouldn't imagine they did," he said before waving them on.

The two marched forward through a corridor ramping downwards leading them to the

lower levels. The floor evened off at a room filled with computers flashing and displaying odd shapes as writing blinked across their monitors in sporadic patterns.

In the centre of all the blinding lights and text that neither of the soldiers could make sense of, a blank computer screen slightly larger than all the others sat still and cold. Kaidan approached it, fiddling with the controls before it activated with a sudden array of tranquil (or at least they were supposed to be) sounds.

"Welcome: Unknown user to the project 88 observation centre. The last known login occurred 27 days ago by Dr. Kirpatrick, in which she initiated emergency protocol lockdown," A woman's voice spoke in monotone, it must have been a VI.

"What procedures are followed in the event of a lockdown?" Kaidan asked.

"In the event of a lockdown all consoles will be shut down until main reactor reset occurs," it replied calmly and smoothly.

"Then how am I able to access consoles?" Zekt took the liberty of checking some of the consoles or datapads for any more information while Kaidan spoke.

"Approximately 82 hours ago the main reactor of this facility located near Port Hanshan was shut down. This facility is now running on emergency power. No safeguards were implemented to prevent anonymous users from accessing project 88 in this event."

Zekt looked up from a datapad and shrugged, "Well, that makes our job easier."

"What is project 88?" Kaidan wasn't sure of what it was that the scientists were working on, he just hoped it was something that they could use.

"Project 88 is a highly advanced spacecraft, equipped with a state of the art antiproton drive. FTL speeds require 32% less element zero as opposed to other military grade frigates, while providing medium to high ranging speeds. Progress is currently sitting at 92% completion."

"Can we see it?" Zekt jumped in.

"Clarification required, access denied," the computer said, a red screen with the same words popped up on the monitor. Zekt raised an eyebrow and moved passed Kaidan.

"One sec I got this," he said crouching down in front of the terminal and opening a panel. After a second or two of fiddling with wires and such he pulled out his omni-tool, "I'm not too good with tech, but since the main power's down I doubt this should be too hard." His mumbling paused for a few seconds. "That should do it."

The screen flashed red twice before glowing green, "Access granted," the VI spoke.

A humming sound filled the room as the wall behind the consoles parted, it was an observation window. Kaidan and Zekt looked at each other cautiously before walking up to the glass, what they saw almost caused their jaws to drop.

Project 88 was practically bigger than the entire yard, though it was only a frigate sized vessel. It's body was long and thin, however, two giant wings jutted out from either side. Massive engines on either end and another set of wings branched out vertically from the engines, though barely a fraction of the actual wing size; causing a sideways "V" shape when observed from side profile. Thanix canons littered the tops of both wings. The bridge was marked by a row of windows lining the front of the ships long body, and at the opposite end, another thruster. It was an impressive design, however, it would be useless to them if it didn't actually fly.

"I'd like to access project 88." Kaidan ordered, the VI's response followed.

"Field testing at this stage is not recommended all the necessary components needed for space flight are currently functional, but there are still approximately 43 simulations that need to be run. There are several system clearing instances to eliminate program malfunction, before live testing as well. Are you certain you would like to access project 88? We cannot ensure systems will function at full capacity."

"If we wanna get off this rock then this is our only choice, do it," With Kaidan's words the roof of the hangar where the ship was being kept opened and the ship was carried upwards by the platform it stood on.

The soldiers returned to the shuttle where the geth continued to wait for them. The frigate had surfaced just about 10 feet out from the docking area, where the blizzard pushed on.

"Major, I believe this ship is much more suitable for space flight in its current condition." The three of them approached the ship, a ramp dropped from the bottom to welcome them as they pressed through the blizzard. When they reached the inside they realized they were standing in the middle of a large shuttle-bay, larger than that of the Normandy, however the shuttles were nowhere to be seen.

The three continue towards a staircase approaching the front of the vessel, when Zekt interrupted.

"Wait, we've got no crew to run this ship, no real plan of action, and I'm assuming an unfinished frigate wouldn't be stocked with food. Even if it was I doubt Cerberus would've taken any possible turian passengers into consideration," Kaidan and the YMIR mech stopped and turned to Zekt.

"I will likely be able to interface with the ship's systems and substitute for a crew," the geth-controlled mech said and halted, looking at Kaidan for assurance.

Kaidan looked at both of them thoughtfully, "I'll notify admiral Hackett and then we can figure out our next move from there. Presenting our evidence to the council would probably be the smartest thing to do at that point, but we should definitely stock up before then. Right now though we should be focusing on getting this ship off the ground, when we get that, then we'll worry about starving."

Zekt couldn't argue with that, besides, the lack of standard protocol regarding this mission Zekt felt like he had been shot out ofa cannon into this situation. Zekt Rikale was by no means a "follow protocol or die" kind of soldier, but he liked to have some sense of ground beneath his feet, a simple plan he could focus on following. Maybe it was because of Alenko's spectre status. Nevertheless the turian had been careened into something much bigger than an occupation job, everything had happened so fast. Who was behind the destruction of Port Hanshan? Was Nollinthus working with them? Did that creature have something to do with all of it? What was that creature? He could hear that voice again echoing around in his skull, but he had no image to go along with it, that being said, he wasn't so sure he wanted one.

The three of them continued towards the bow after Zekt's objection. Upon reaching the steps though it was evident that the YMIR mech couldn't carry on, "I will remain in the shuttle bay, as there are several consoles I will be able to interface with from this location." Kaidan nodded and waved Zekt on with him.

With that the two organics continued up the steps. The bridge started immediately from the top of the stairs. A massive observation window marked the end of the rounded bow, continuing outwards from the sides of the window were smaller ones, in a grid like pattern, crawling up onto the ceiling of the bridge. The pilot's chair stood behind a large console placed precisely at the centre of the room, with several other empty seats along the edge of the bridge.

"Major Alenko, would you like me to initiate takeoff procedures?" The geth sounded over the comm.

"Do it," Kaidan replied with a nod.

"Starting lift thrusters," The engines on either side of the ship's wings roared to life, and the ship began to climb vertically, like an elevator. Many ships this size were not equipped to land on the surface of planets, Kaidan concluded the ship must have vertical thrusters underneath to push it of the ground. The ship began to drift forward as the engines grew louder. Kaidan had almost forgotten the typical amount of noise engines produced after serving on the Normandy, and after all those years he had to admit traditional ships made him slightly nervous.

The vessel angled itself upwards and began to climb in altitude, "Rear engines engaging preparing for atmospheric descent."

The details of Noveria's surface began to blur as the ship persisted, not even fazed by the snow storms that had the cargo ship swaying, no doubt due to its large mass effect fields. The sky began to fade now and a feeling of weightlessness began to sink in, but was severed almost instantly, followed by an announcement, "engaging artificial gravity."

Suddenly the ship quieted and Kaidan's heart skipped a beat as he could feel the vessel slipping back into orbit, a falling sensation clawed at him for a split second, and then the engines exploded with sound again.

"A minor propulsion failure occurred at 104 km above Noveria's surface, however systems have repaired themselves," the geth informed, as both Kaidan and Zekt regained their composure.

"If that was minor than I sure as hell don't wanna know what severe is," Zekt remarked as the ship smoothly zipped away from the planet.

"A severe propulsion failure would have resulted in one or more engines overheating and exploding," the geth replied.

"And that was rhetorical," Zekt mumbled to himself as he began to inspect the ship.

"Well, looks like we dodged a bullet there," what had just happened didn't exactly reassure Kaidan of the ships reliability, but if they were going to get out of the star system they were going to have to move faster than sub-light speeds. "When can we speed up to FTL?"

"As previously stated, propulsion systems have been repaired the chances of the same problem reoccurring are very unlikely. FTL speeds can be initiated anytime now that we are clear of Noveria's gravitational field."

"Good, get us to the closest Mass Relay," the ships engines began to power up again and within a few seconds they were sent shooting across the cosmos. Noveria shrank within a split second behind them and was now no longer visible.

"This vessel is equipped with a vid-com communicator located closer to the opposite end of the ship, behind the staircase leading to the shuttle bay. Providing all systems function properly, you can set up connection with admiral Hackett." Kaiden looked around, a long corridor stretched out behind him.

"I'm gonna wander, I'll be in the lounge if you need me." Zekt turned around and mumbled something to himself, "Wherever that is," before he trekked off to explore the ship.

Kaidan made his way to the conference room, the ship had a very simple layout, one long hallway that branched out into different rooms. The console in the centre of the room explained itself. Kaidan quickly noted that he was aboard an unknown vessel and therefore admiral Hackett may not accept the com link.

"This is Arcturus station identi- Major Alenko?" An image blasted into view, Hackett stood in his usual pundit look. He was coloured in a blue hue because of the vid-com. "What're doing on an unmarked vessel? I assume you're finished with your investigation? We haven't been able to get a hold of anyone on Noveria, the council forces team wet completely black, we figured it was interference because of the storms."

"The other soldiers investigating the blast site are all dead as far as I know, Admiral." Kaidan replied slowly.

"What? What happened?"

The sound of that creature flashed over his mind again.

"I really don't know admiral."


End file.
